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Post by Tandar on Jul 18, 2012 10:40:58 GMT -5
"Palisade is dead. At least, everyone seems to think so—everyone except Tory. Commandant Crowley awarded the gold to a couple of bounty hunters who claim to have shot Palisade, but to be honest, I'm beginning to have doubts. There wasn't even a body. The only proof they provided was Palisade's silver Oakleaf amulet. I suspect Tory knows something that we don't that leads her to believe he is still alive."
“That Korrin—he’s such a horrid man,” Brandwyn muttered. “Maybe I should have let him bleed to death after all. He certainly deserves it.”
"I know," Tandar said gently. "I know he does. The thought crossed my mind too, but it's not our place to decide who lives and who dies." He wrapped his arms around Brandwyn and held her for a moment. The physical contact was comforting; Tandar felt the stress of the day's events start to melt away as he thought of just himself and Brandwyn together. Reluctantly, he let go as they headed outside to confront Tory in the stable.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jul 18, 2012 21:34:48 GMT -5
Brandwyn knew Tandar was right and that she would never have been able to live with herself if she hadn’t helped Korrin, but she vowed that she would make sure he was locked away in the dungeon so he could never hurt another girl. She was sorry to leave Tandar’s arms, but they needed to check on Tory so she followed Tandar around the cabin and sighed with relief as she saw Chip watching them curiously. The next thing she saw was Tory hugging her knees and shaking uncontrollably. Tory looked up at them as they ducked into the shelter. She hadn’t been crying, but there was a wild look in her eyes like a new colt trying to decide if it was going to bolt.
“We just came to check on you Tory. Are you sure you want to stay out here all night?” Brandwyn asked as she looked around the rather small stable area. She liked the smell of horses, but she couldn’t imagine sleeping in the manger especially with all the spiders crawling around in the dark. “It’s a bit cold out here.”
Tory didn’t answer at first because she was wondering if they knew she was thinking about running. She searched Tandar’s face for a moment before finally saying, “I am fine here. There’s only about three and a half hours of night left anyway.” She rubbed her eyes, tired and yet wide awake and too scared to fall asleep. “You don’t need to worry about me.” She rested her chin back on her arms but watched them warily. “I’ll be fine and can climb on Chip if I get cold.”
Brandwyn crossed her arms and gave her that same look Brandwyn’s mother used to give her when she suspected Brandwyn was lying. She was wondering if they should just come right out and ask Tory if she was planning to go look for Palisade. She looked at Tandar and figured she better let him decide what to do with his apprentice.
Tory glanced between the two of them and then yawned. She really was close to exhaustion and in danger of falling asleep even though she didn’t want to. She pulled the blanket she was half sitting on up around her shoulders and snuggled down into the manger. “I assure you, I am quite comfortable here. It sure beats sleeping in a tree in the dead of winter.” She’d done that too, when she was very young and the tree was not all that far from here – if it still stood. Korrin’s face loomed in her mind again and she closed her eyes, trying to squeeze him out of her thoughts. “I can’t get him out of my mind…” she whispered, forgetting for a moment that Tandar and Brandwyn were listening.
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Post by Tandar on Jul 19, 2012 10:34:51 GMT -5
Tandar looked at Tory with pity. He could never truly understand the hardships she endured. Their lives were so different—he a noble, she a serf. He was concerned about her mental state during the journey to Meric Fief. Now, after yet another traumatic experience, he feared she might be at risk for a breakdown.
"You'll need those three and a half hours of sleep in order to function in the morning, so get some rest," he told Tory. He watched his apprentice for a minute before leaning in close to Brandwyn's ear. "She's not going to come inside willingly," he said softly. "I'll spend the night out here just to make sure she'll be okay. You take my bed."
Tandar fetched his bedroll and some blankets from the cabin. He draped one of the fleece covers over Tory to keep the chill at bay, and laid out his own bedroll in front of the small stable. The Ranger was exhausted; he fell asleep almost immediately after lying down. After what seemed like a moment, he opened his eyes to find the rising sun warming his face.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jul 19, 2012 14:49:17 GMT -5
Tory had finally dozed off, but her sleep was fitful and filled with terror. She kept waking up from the nightmares and tried to stay awake because she was too afraid to sleep, but her body needed the rest and so she would doze off again. She sensed the coming dawn and was cold and her legs were cramped from sitting in the manger without moving much so she got up just before the sun started to peek over the horizon when the sky was just starting to lighten.
A thin fog hung on the ground and dew covered the grass. She brushed Chip off, fed him some grain and settled his saddle on his back while he ate. She thought maybe an early morning ride would help clear the ghosts from her mind and give her a chance to think about her situation. She didn’t know Tandar had stayed outside nearby, but she was being quiet so as not to wake him or Brandwyn inside the cabin.
She had just finished securing her pack and bedroll to her saddle when the sun topped the trees and she paused for a moment watching the dew sparkling like diamonds on the blades of grass where it poked through the low hanging cloud cover.. She felt a slight rumble beneath her feet in the ground and looked up toward the road leading from the castle. Through the trees she caught a glimpse of six horses moving at a trot and the flash of the Araluen Guard’s colors on the riders. They were still a long way off, but it appeared as if they could possibly be heading in this direction. Given the activities of the night before, Tory had no doubt they were coming to throw her in the dungeon and the next thing she would see was the end of a hangman’s noose.
She grabbed her satchel and slung it over her shoulder, her heart clenched in fear and panic on her face as she jumped onto Chip’s back right there in the lean-to, narrowly missing knocking her head on the rafters above. Leaning forward she steered him out into the paddock and through the gate and then broke into a run while whistling for Pounce to follow. The long striped cat streaked out under the fence behind them and leapt over Tandar with a howl.
Tory turned Chip aside when she saw her mentor sleeping on the ground next to the stable and guilt stabbed her guts as she flew by him. “I will not hang,” she called out to him, “Goodbye Tandar.”
She threaded her way into the woods at a dead run, trusting Chip to choose his footing and wanting to stay out of site of the Araluen Guardsmen that she felt sure were after her. Panic drove her recklessly forward, but she was certain she could elude capture. She doubted if anyone knew these woods as well as she did, even though it had been a couple years since she’d been here. She stayed off the road and headed for the stream she had played around as a child. Although she didn’t like rivers, shallow, narrow streams didn’t hold the same fear for her. She could cross them without any problem. Only this time she didn’t cross it, she followed it downstream for quite a ways, running Chip in the water to hide his footprints. She motioned to Pounce to jump up in her lap and the Skandian cat obeyed, sensing her fear.
Tandar was likely to be following her and so she didn’t slow Chip much until they passed several rocky places where she could have exited the stream without leaving footprints behind. She knew it would be hard to lose him if he was tracking her. The thick fog along the creek would help, however. It was eerie how fog both muffled the sound and yet amplified it at the same time. She wondered if Tandar was close behind or if the guard had seen her and pursued her so she pulled Chip to a stop in the middle of the water and turned around to listen. Was that a hoof beat she heard over the murmuring giggle of the water?
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Post by Tandar on Jul 31, 2012 14:05:27 GMT -5
Tandar shifted slightly in his sleep as Pounce bounded over him and his apprentice fled on horseback, but he didn't wake up until the rumble of the incoming cavalcade became a little more pronounced. His back was facing the lean-to when he opened his eyes. He quickly rolled over and muttered a curse. Chocolate Chip was nowhere to be seen. Tory was missing. All of her equipment was gone. She wasn't coming back.
The Ranger leapt up, entered the stable, and began readying Ruldor to go after Tory. He debated going inside to tell Brandwyn where he was going, but she would figure it out when she saw Tory was missing. At the last moment, Tandar decided to forgo the saddle in the interest of time. It had been quite a while since he had ridden bareback though, so he hoped he wouldn't regret it. For once, he was glad his Ranger horse wasn't tall. Tandar mounted without too much difficulty and rode after Tory. He glanced over his shoulder at the cavalry, who were very close to the cabin now. Tandar thought he recognized Karl Waterton amongst the Araluen Guardsmen. His curiosity was piqued, but whatever business they had would have to wait. If he knew Tory, she was slipping farther away with each passing second.
Tracking Tory proved to be an easy task at first. The brisk pace she set left ample sign for Tandar to follow. He wondered what she hoped to accomplish. She should have known he was going to track her. If she really was searching for Palisade, how could she ever hope to find him, assuming he was alive? Tandar groaned as he followed Chocolate Chip’s hoof prints into the creek. They didn’t come out on the other side. Tory was using the flowing water to hide her sign. The water was fairly clear and shallow, allowing Tandar to occasionally observe disturbances in the streambed and pursue for several minutes. He moved quickly, and the splashing water doused the lower parts of his garments. The light fog seemed to thicken as he progressed, making his task extremely difficult. The Ranger realized he had passed nearly half a dozen rocky patches on the banks. Tory could have exited the creek at any one of them, and, at this point, it was impossible to tell if she had continued farther downstream.
Ruldor whinnied softly. Tandar halted his horse in the middle of the channel and turned his head, listening in all directions.
“Hello?” a choked up female voice called. “Is someone there?”
“Tory?” the Ranger asked loudly. He was confused. Why would she speak up if she didn’t want to be found? On second thought, the voice didn’t sound like it belonged to his apprentice. Then again, it sounded like she had been crying. Tandar detected tension and maybe a little despair in the hoarse voice. It was difficult to determine how far ahead she was because the fog carried sounds easily. Dismounting in the water, Polaris told Ruldor to stay put in case it was an ambush and moved up alone on foot. As a precaution, he slid his saxe knife out of his sheath and held it low, but ready.
“Over here!” the female yelled.
By now, Tandar had decided it wasn’t Tory. He warily combed the right bank, fully aware that the blanketing fog and thick bulrushes could conceal any number of dangers. He could hear breathing not far from his position and he walked toward it slowly, carefully choosing his steps, and letting the gurgle of the stream mask his approach.
“I lost my way, and—”
Tandar pulled aside a dense clump of bulrushes, revealing a girl, about fourteen years old sitting on the mossy bank, hugging her knees. Immediately, her body was wracked by a brief spasm as she coughed violently in Tandar’s face.
The Ranger felt tiny droplets land on his face, and he recoiled in horror, falling backward into the creek.
“I’m sick,” she finished.
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Post by Brandwyn on Aug 4, 2012 22:14:56 GMT -5
Brandwyn felt the rumble of hoofbeats through the floor under Tandar’s bed. She threw the cover off and took a glance out the back window just in time to see Tandar sprinting off into the woods bareback on Ruldor. She squinted her eyes in confusion wondering what was going on and then ran through the cabin and out the front door. “Tandar?” she called after him, but wasn’t sure if he had heard her.
She ran around the cabin to the lean-to where there should have been two more horses and saw that Asfala was the only one left and she was neighing after Ruldor. Chocolate Chip, Tory and all her gear were gone. She calmed Asfala down and started to saddle her up, intending to follow Tandar who was probably following Tory, but she never got the chance.
“Hold on there, Miss,” a deep voice arrested her movement and Brandy looked to see four Araluen Guardsmen, a castle guard and Master Waterton encircling the paddock. “Where are you going in such a hurry?”
Karl laid his hand on the guard’s arm and told his own guardsman to go check the cabin, knowing already that it was empty.
“I just saw Tandar riding out of here in a canter,” Karl said to Brandwyn, “any idea why?”
Brandwyn wondered why the Araluen Guard was here and all looking at her suspiciously so she evaded the question by asking one of her own, “What’s going on Karl?”
“Never you mind,” said the Guard member who had first spoken. “Have you been here all night and has the ranger Tandar and his apprentice Tory been here as well?”
Brandwyn’s eyes narrowed in irritation at his rudeness. “Define ‘all night’” she countered, making up her mind that she wasn’t going to give him a straight answer if she could help it.
“Don’t get smart with me, Missy.” The guard eased his horse forward, intending to intimidate her and leveled his finger at her nose.
Brandwyn’s temper flared and she drew herself up to her full height, putting on airs that she normally didn’t use. “How dare you address me in such a manner? I am The Lady Alston and a member of the Fief’s Court. You will address me as ‘My Lady’ or ‘Your Ladyship’. Do you understand?”
The guard was taken aback and glanced uncertainly at Karl, trying to verify that Brandwyn was lying to him, but the dark look Waterton gave him was enough to tell him that this little tramp that had spent the night with a ranger in his cabin together was telling the truth, at least about her titles. Sullenly he said, “My apologies, Your Ladyship.”
Brandwyn just stood there with her arms crossed, in a pre-fighting stance and glared at him. She made no effort to answer his question.
“We have brought some news from the castle,” Karl took the lead, sending a glance to the guardsman that he better keep his mouth shut. Karl had gotten to know Brandwyn well enough over the past few months to know that the more she was pressed, the less likely they would be to get any responses from her. “I am afraid it is not the best of news, depending on how one looks at it.”
Brandwyn cocked her head to one side curious about this news that obviously involved Tory and likely Korrin. She was worried enough that she asked, “What do you mean? What news?”
“Korrin is dead.” Karl answered but he couldn’t keep the anger at the deceased out of his voice.
“So he succumbed to the wound Tory gave him?” She asked. This was indeed bad news for Tory. No wonder she ran if she had seen them coming down the road. But for all Brandwyn knew, Tory could have left any time during the last three hours while Brandwyn had been sleeping.
“Umm… no, he did not.” Karl answered. “Someone slipped into the castle not long after you three left and slit his throat.”
Brandwyn placed both hands over her mouth and shook her head in horror. It couldn’t be…her thoughts raced… Tandar had gone back for the food… he couldn’t have done it, could he? She had to buy him some time so they could sort this out.
“So you have come here to?” she left the thought unfinished.
“To find out if Tandar, Tory and you have been here all night.” Karl answered. “Right now they think I did it because that silly doctor came in and saw me standing there right after I walked in to check on Korrin. I saw a man slip down the corridor, but he was moving too quickly for me to catch up. The Baron gave me leave to come break the news to my daughter and these men are here to verify that Tandar did not have anything to do with this.”
“You? You would never murder someone like that!” Brandwyn again glared at the guards, realizing they were there to guard him as much as to take Tandar or Tory back. She knew from past experience that Karl wouldn’t lie. He lived by the code of chivalry and honor and that killing a helpless man like that wasn’t his style. He was furious at Korrin but he’d said he wanted Korrin to suffer as much as Tory had and Brandwyn knew he wouldn’t have given Korrin such a quick end. Although she could believe that Karl was capable of killing the villain, he would do it honorably in accordance with due process and not in cold blood while the man lay helpless in a hospital bed. "Surely the Baron realizes that?"
Karl shook his head, "He wants to, but the doctor did see me standing over Korrin holding a knife. I can't blame her for jumping to conclusions." Karl's shoulder's sagged and he looked at the ground then back at Brandwyn, "I swear I didn't do it. I saw the man who did. he seemed to be kind of tall but other than that I couldn't identify anything about him. I didn't get a good look at him."
Brandwyn turned back to her horse and finished tightening the saddle to give herself time to think. So, had Tandar done it? He’d had the opportunity but she couldn’t believe he could do such a thing. He had his chance to kill Korrin in the kitchen before she and Karl had walked in on them. Why would he wait and go back later to do it when it would have been considered self defense when he pulled Korrin off of Tory in the first place? It wasn't in his nature to kill. Besides hadn't he just told her it wasn't their place to decide who should live and who should die? It didn’t make any sense… unless it was someone else entirely that had done the job. But who could that possibly be?
“Tory, me and Tandar were here for the rest of the night after we got the cabin cleaned up. Tory said she couldn't sleep and she didn't want to keep us awake so she wanted to stay out in the stable with Chip. She said she would have nightmares if she did fall asleep and that being near the horses would help so she went outside to sleep in the manger.” Brandwyn explained, forgetting the guard and her desire not to answer the man's questions. Tandar was in need of an alibi and she was it. Technically what she said was true, she just left out the part about Tandar going back to get the food before they cleaned the cabin up. “We thought she might try to run off because she was so upset. She was going on and on about Palisade, her former mentor, still being alive and I thought she might try to go find the man. She was very upset and not thinking clearly.” Brandy shook her head again and pointed over to the bedroll crumpled up on the ground, “Tandar thought he better sleep out here so that if she decided to run it would wake him up.”
Unfortunately it didn’t seem like it worked that way, probably because Tandar had been so exhausted. He had either slept through Tory leaving and discovered she was gone when he woke, or… “I think Tory just ran off when she heard you coming. She was terrified that the Coltrane’s were going to have her hung for attacking Korrin.”
Karl nodded, “I thought I heard hooves pounding away before we got up here and before we saw Tandar high-tailing it into the woods. I too figured Tory might try to run. I thought I had talked her out of it though. She always has run off into these woods to hide when things weren’t going her way, but she always came back in a day or two.” Karl realized that wasn't entirely true. The one time she hadn't come back was when she'd run off after that ranger and this was the first he'd seen of his daughter since that day, although she had written to him regularly.
The Araluen guard opened his mouth again, “So that’s it then?” he asked Karl. “You are just going to take this girl…I mean Her Ladyship’s word for it?” He said Brandwyn’s title with such sarcasm that it sounded more like he was calling her a street harlot. “How do we know for certain this ranger fella or the girl that started all of this in the first place aren’t skipping on out of here because they were the ones who killed that man and this here ‘Lady’ is in on it?”
Karl’s face darkened and he shot his arm out so fast the guard never saw the punch coming. Karl struck him hard with his balled up fist in the side of his head and the man’s eyes rolled up in his head and he toppled from his horse nearly unconscious.
Brandwyn, scowled at the guard and fingered her belt knife while he was talking. Then dropped her jaw and stared at Karl in wonder. He had been so fast and he hadn’t even turned his head to look at the guard. Brandy had no idea Tory’s father could move like that, but she now saw where Tory got her not only her temper from but her speed and agility. Waterton must have been a formidable knight in his day before the leg injury that altered his career.
“You need to learn some manners and how to speak to those above your station,” Karl admonished the guard and he noticed that two of the other guards were trying hard to suppress smiles. He didn’t find it funny however and shot them a warning look before turning his attention back on the guard, “You dare call the Lady a liar?”
The guard picked himself up off the dirt and rubbed his head. “If she is such a lady, then why is she out here sleeping in an unmarried man’s cabin with no chaperone?” he asked sullenly, still reeling from the blow.
“I was out here to try and help Tory, you dolt!” Brandwyn said in exasperation. “She was upset and Tandar didn’t want her sleeping alone. He felt she needed a woman’s touch last night after… after what Korrin did to her. As you can see from the bedroll over there,” she pointed again, “Tandar slept outside the cabin the entire time.”
“You don’t owe him an explanation, Brandy.” Karl said, glaring at the guard. “As soon as we get back, I am reporting your behavior to the Baron.”
The guard mounted, muttering something about Karl going right ahead, but he kept his distance from the ex-knight. “Well hadn’t we better get after them?” he asked sarcastically. “That is if you want to catch him and clear your name.”
Brandwyn turned back to her horse to brush her off and thought for a few minutes. She needed to talk to Tandar and tell him what was going on before the guard caught up with him. "Tory was saying something last night about not seeing her mother for nearly three years..."
Karl nodded, "She said that to me too. Do you think it likely she would go there? She's a smart girl and surely she would think that's the first place we would look.
Brandwyn hoped Tory would be smart enough to stay away from her mother's house on the Coltraine's estate, but she wasn't so sure. She wanted to send these guardsmen on a wild goose chase, but what if Tory did go that way? They would be right on the heels of Tandar and Tory. There was no help for it, though. She hoped she was buying Tandar some time to find Tory and get back here. "She can ride very fast. She might figure she can be there and gone before you all get there."
Karl looked down the road in the direction of Tory's mother's home. "You're right. I think she would go there first if only briefly and then flee." He turned back to the guardsmen. "Let's go! Brandwyn, don't you go anywhere except up to the castle, you hear?"
Brandwyn nodded but didn't say a word. She had no intention of sitting around twiddling her thumb. The guardsmen followed Karl back to the road and took off at a canter. Brandwyn waited until she was sure they weren't coming back and quickly saddled Asfala and took off following the tracks of Ruldor and Chip, until she came to the stream. There she had to use all of her tracking skills to sort out that they had gone into the stream and it was now almost impossible to track them. She followed the stream for a bit and called out softly, "Tandar? .... Tandar? Are you here?" Then she resumed riding down the streambed very slowly and looking for signs that they had exited the stream.
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Post by Tandar on Aug 5, 2012 22:28:01 GMT -5
When Patrick Palisade opened his good eye, it was still dark. The pleasant sound of running water could be heard nearby. He was very familiar with Meric, having been the Ranger of the fief several years ago. He had marked the creek side location on his map as an excellent campsite, but this was the first time he had actually used it due to its proximity to the Ranger cabin. Although he had slumbered less than he would have liked due to his nocturnal escapade, his body was trained to wake roughly an hour before dawn. Surprisingly, Palisade had slept soundly and felt well rested. Pulling off the long, dark cloak he used as a blanket, the ex-Ranger sat up and shivered. The air was chilly against his bare chest and back. His gaze fell to his shirt, lying on the ground at his feet, stained with splatters of red. Rolling off his bedroll onto the grass, Palisade assumed the push–up position and began his daily workout routine.
By the time he was finishing with pull–ups on a low tree branch, the sky was light, and the reddish sun was now visible as it climbed higher by the minute. He dropped to the ground and used his arm to wipe the accretion of perspiration from his forehead that was threatening to run into his eye. Using water from the nearby stream, Palisade cleaned himself up a little and rinsed his soiled clothing. The sound of hoof beats drawing near reached his ears. Wringing out the wet garments, he lifted his head to look at the solo rider who stopped in the middle of the stream, staring over her shoulder. There was no indication that she had spotted him yet, but her very light, brown hair and leopard Appaloosa mount were unmistakable.
"Tory?" he asked. The surprise in his voice was apparent.
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Post by Brandwyn on Aug 6, 2012 22:45:01 GMT -5
Tory didn’t hear any sounds of pursuit, but she paused long enough to make sure Tandar hadn't caught up to her. She looked behind her while absentmindedly stroking Pounce’s soft coat as the big forest cat clung to the saddle in front of her.
"Tory?"
Tory’s hand slipped to her belt to draw her saxe knife, but then she paused and turned her head, recognizing the voice. “Patrick?” She whispered and squinted at him. For a moment she entertained the idea he was a ghost and then chided herself for being stupid. Maybe she was hallucinating. Korrin had hit the side of her head pretty hard. One had only to look at the large ugly bruise from her lower cheek to her temple to see that. Or perhaps the lack of oxygen to her brain while Korrin had his fingers around her throat was causing her to see things. The bruise marks in the shape of his fingerprints were very evident now that the sun was getting higher and the sky lighter.
She finally decided that she’d been right all along. Her face beamed, “I knew it! I knew you were still alive!” She said fiercely, but in a low volume and glanced back over her shoulder while urging Chip closer to him. As she drew near she leapt off her ranger horse and threw herself at Patrick, flinging her arms around him in a big hug. Tears glistened in her eyes, but she didn’t let them spill over. She knew he didn't like to show emotions and she didn't want to get all hysterical in front of him. Besides, there wasn't time right now to give in to her emotions anyway. She broke the embrace before she lost control and looked at Patrick, craning her neck to look up into his face.
“What on earth happened to your eye?” She blurted as she looked him over, noting he was more fit than ever except for the missing eye. She glanced back over her shoulder again, still worried Tandar would be coming around the bend any moment, and then she looked down at the ground along the bank and where she and Patrick were standing making footprints in the mud. “Nevermind! We have to get out of here. Now!” She wanted to ask him a dozen questions, but she knew it wouldn’t be long before Tandar and the others would be coming down that streambed. She’d hoped to have left the stream without footprints, but now they were going to know she met someone and exactly where she got out of the stream. No help for it now though.
“Come on!” she urged Patrick to hurry up as she remounted Chip and settled Pounce behind the saddle on top of her pack. “Tandar is probably right behind me and the Araluen Guard are on his heels. They are coming to arrest me for killing Korrin.” She wasn’t exactly sure that was the reason the guard was pounding down the road so early in the morning, but it seemed the most likely scenario to her. Maybe Korrin had succumed to the wound she gave him after all. “I am NOT going to hang, especially not for that…pig!” she couldn’t say the word she really wanted to say because she was not used to using such vulgar language and she was overwhelmed with emotions again. For a moment Korrin’s sneering face danced in her mind’s eye and she reeled in the saddle. She sucked in a breath, realizing she was close to tears again from all the overflowing emotions. ‘No time for that now and not in front of Patrick,’ she thought and brought herself under control. “Let’s get out of here!” she urged. “I know a place where we can hide for a bit. Do you still have Caliber?”
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Post by Tandar on Oct 1, 2012 15:51:17 GMT -5
Patrick awkwardly returned the hug and took the opportunity to sheath the dagger he had concealed in the wet shirt he was wringing out—a precautionary measure in case it wasn't his former apprentice who came riding up. “I ran into a band of slavers on the road after Gallica,” he explained. “One of them took a knife to my eye.” Gently, he turned Tory’s head by her chin so he could get a better look at the unsightly contusion covering the side of her face. His gaze fell to her neck where the marks of fingers could be seen. “What happened to you?” he asked with some concern.
Palisade noted her looking over her shoulder. “What are you doing out here in the brook? Is someone tailing you?”
“We have to get out of here,” Tory said imperatively. “Now!”
He stared into her eyes for a moment. They were blue, almost like turquoise gemstones, and he saw a sense of urgency in them. “All right,” Palisade replied. He held his questions for now and jogged over to his gear where he pulled on a clean shirt. Hastily, he rolled up his bedroll and stuffed his remaining supplies into his pack.
“Do you still have Caliber?”
In response, Palisade whistled sharply. Caliber lifted his dark bay head from where he was grazing a short distance downstream from their position and trotted over to his master. When he was closer, his four black stockings could be made out. The soldier saddled his mount as quickly as he could, and a brief while later, he and Tory were riding with speed to her nearby hideout. He followed closely behind Chocolate Chip, letting his former apprentice lead the way. In his mind, he debated how much to tell her. If he knew Tory, she had a score of questions just waiting to ask, and with everything she had been through, she had the right to know some things, he decided.
“Tory, slow down.” He rode up alongside her. “You need to go back to Ranger Polaris.” Palisade held up a hand to curb her impending objection and allow him to continue. “The Guardsmen won’t arrest you because Korrin didn't die from his injury.” He reached over and pulled Chocolate Chip to a stop.
“You didn't kill Korrin. I did.”
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Post by Brandwyn on Oct 7, 2012 20:53:19 GMT -5
Patrick awkwardly returned the hug and took the opportunity to sheath the dagger he had concealed in the wet shirt he was wringing out—a precautionary measure in case it wasn't his former apprentice who came riding up. “I ran into a band of slavers on the road after Gallica,” he explained. “One of them took a knife to my eye.”
“Slavers?” Tory gasped. She almost reached up to move the eye patch to look under it, but even she wasn’t quite that bold. She dropped her hand that had only just started to move toward his ruined eye. “I hate slavers. They should all be put in work camps,” she said bitterly. Raised as she had been, she could relate to the terrible lives of most slaves, especially after getting a brief glimpse of how the Skandians used their slaves during the war. Now that she’d lived for three years as a ranger’s apprentice she realized just how close her own life as a serf had been to that of an actual slave. It was only one slight step up and now that she’d tasted freedom, she could never go back to that life.
Gently, he turned Tory’s head by her chin so he could get a better look at the unsightly contusion covering the side of her face. His gaze fell to her neck where the marks of finger could be seen. “What happened to you?” he asked with some concern.
Tory let him examine her face, but wouldn’t meet his eye, instead keeping her own eyes cast downward as fear, anger and shame warred within her. She swallowed and pulled her chin out of his grip with a shrug, trying to hide her emotions. She was fighting back tears again and the question brought the previous evenings struggle back to her mind in vivid detail. She shuddered and cleared her throat. “Korrin,” she said flatly. “He attacked me not even a half hour after Tandar and I arrived at the castle last night…” She squeezed her eyes shut and didn’t realize her fists were clenched as she relived the attack for the hundredth time. “He…threw me into a wall and then choked me while he was…” she couldn’t bring herself to say the word ‘rape’ and choked back sobs, determined not to cry in front of her former mentor. “If Tandar hadn’t stopped him…” she whispered and then hung her head in shame. “I stabbed him. I wanted to kill him. I wanted him to die,” she said so softly she wasn’t sure if Patrick could even understand her words. She dug her balled up fists into her eyes and fought to maintain control. What scared her was that she didn’t feel guilty about stabbing him and she wondered if that made her a monster. “Now he is dead and they are going to hang me for it.” Despite her misery, she was all too aware that time was fleeting and Tandar would be searching for her by now. She finally met Patrick’s gaze, her whole being screaming at her to run.
“Come on!” she urged Patrick to hurry up as she remounted Chip and settled Pounce behind the saddle on top of her pack. “Tandar is probably right behind me and the Araluen Guard are on his heels. They are coming to arrest me for killing Korrin.”
“We have to get out of here,” Tory said imperatively. “Now!”
He stared into her eyes for a moment. They were blue, almost like turquoise gemstones, and he saw a sense of urgency in them. “All right,” Palisade replied.
Tory led them quickly over rocky terrain along the ancient streambed of the former river that was now reduced to a narrow stream hundreds of years past its glory. The river had once, long ago, cut a path through the country that left a steep bank on the western side of the stream. Along this bank was a cave that Tory had stumbled upon many years ago. The entrance was hidden by a stand of scrub brush and brambles. They were almost there when Patrick stopped her.
“Tory, slow down.” He rode up alongside her. “You need to go back to Ranger Polaris.”
“I’m not-“
Palisade held up a hand to curb her impending objection and allow him to continue. “The Guardsmen won’t arrest you because Korrin didn't die from his injury.” He reached over and pulled Chocolate Chip to a stop.
“You didn't kill Korrin. I did.”
Tory sat there dumbfounded for a moment, unable to fathom what he was talking about. “You…did…what?” She wasn’t sure she’d heard him right.
How could he have killed Korrin? When? She was so confused. She sat there staring at him for a full minute while she tried to sort things out. Then she looked at her situation and came to a conclusion; it didn’t matter if Patrick had killed Korrin somehow. She still had attacked Korrin and for a serf to attack a noble, it meant death – whether the injury she had caused had killed him or not.
Emphatically she shook her head, “I don’t’ know what you’re talking about, but even if you did kill Korrin instead of me, it doesn’t matter.” She exclaimed as she dismounted. “I still attacked a nobleman and they will kill me for that. Coltraine said she would see me hang. She said it to Father, in front of the Baron.”
She searched for the entrance to the cave for a moment and then pulled back some of the scrub brush, being careful to stay out of the grip of the thorns on the brambles. “We’re here and we can hide for a little while and catch up on things.” She dared Patrick to stop her with a look of determination in her eyes. “Just wait here a moment while I make sure Cinnamon isn’t in here. I don’t think the ole’ Mama Bear would take kindly to you and I know the horses won’t take kindly to her.”
Tory slipped behind the foliage and into the cave. It was not a huge cave, but it was large enough to fit four or five fully grown brown bears for the winter and ample room for the two of them and their horses. The entrance was big enough for the horses, though it was a tight squeeze, and once inside the floor slanted down steeply while the ceiling remained at the same level. It widened out into a half circle and there were visible striations in the rock from years of the river water gushing through and eating the rock away. The back of the cave glowed faintly in the dark from the algae that lived on the rocks. It was dark inside, but not pitch black because the light from outside still filtered into most of the cave.
Tory ducked her head back out and motioned for Chip to follow, “all clear. Looks like Cinnamon hasn’t set up to hibernate for the winter just yet.” She hoped the brown mother bear was still alive. Being this close to the castle, the bear had been hunted many times. It was one of those times that Tory saw the bear go into the cave and then she managed to draw the hunters off on a wild goose chase for a lost boy who really hadn’t been lost at all. Cinnamon had repaid the favor over the years, offering Tory a place of refuge on several occasions.
Once they were in the cave, Tory approached Caliber with half an apple, “hello Boy, I sure missed you!” She rubbed Caliber’s forehead as he munched on the apple and then offered the other half to Chip who seemed to be trying to catch up on all the news with his old stablemate.
Tory pulled the scrub brush back over the entrance and then settled on the floor, leaning against a large rock. Pounce came over and draped his feline body over her lap and began to purr contentedly as he cleaned his white paws. She was playing nervously with a strip of bramble that she’d removed the thorns from as she relived her nightmare again. She couldn’t seem to think about anything else. She wrenched her mind away from thoughts of Korrin and looked up at Patrick, “I won’t go back there, at least not right now. I am not going to hang. If you send me away from you, I will just run away in another direction and if you take me back there I won’t forgive you and you might get caught. Right now everyone thinks you’re dead. Crowley paid off two bounty hunters that said they shot you.”
She wondered what he had been doing and what his plan were now. “I see you’re not wearing Ranger or Brotherhood insignia now. Are you not part of the Banished Brethren anymore?” Maybe she could focus his attention on himself rather than on her, beside she really was curious. “What are you planning to do now? Where were you heading?”
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